[Festival of Illusions] Visionaries (Order of Transcendence)

[Anishna]

Anishna picked up her feather slowly after the big spectacle that had just unfolded, straightening and lifting the long black feather to the sun. It shimmered the hues of the rainbow as she looked at it, every turn of her hand giving the feather more chances to display the vibrancy of itself. She didn't participate in the excited words of her companions, instead preferring to keep her thoughts to herself. If Ionu had truly just graced them with her presence, why did she have to question her reasoning? The Vantha stroked the feather as she lowered it, promising herself that she would bind it into her hair sometime later that day, and looked at the newest participant in their little group, a little concerned herself that there seemed to be others given that feather. Perhaps the reason wasn't so important after all. It may have come a tad late, but Anishna finally smiled around her at Alric and Nira'lia. "It's nice to meet you both as well, and you too," Anishna nodded at the new addition. The sight of his own feather still ruffled her figurative feathers, but she could go get answers of her own at another time. She was taken into the conversation of this spectacle being much more than just a flare of Ionu's humour. "We were fated to meet then, today at the Festival?" Anishna asked, just a tad incredulously. She wasn't one to believe so quickly in fate and destiny, and it echoed in her tone. All eyes looked at Eridanus, the narrowed eyes of Anishna following. Perhaps he had sense not to believe in fate like these three did.

[Eridanus]

Interestingly, the people who got the feather were all connected to Eridanus somehow. Though they may not know each other, they were all indirectly connected through him. He racked his brains, wondering what Ionu could possibly be telling them. What Fate could be telling them.

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by a fatigued looking man holding up the same feather that his group had received. It seemed that no one knew him, and he was the only stranger to everyone. A glance at Alric showed that he was not the only one with suspicions, and he pooled his reserves of djed as he delved directly into the man's aura.

As his physical vision blurred and a new, magical one took over, he was instantly assaulted with the smell of decay and sickly sweetness, causing him to unconsciously cringe his nose. That characteristic in anyone's aura was a clear sign of being undead, and he likened it to a portion of Rayage's aura, an interesting alchemist he met many years ago in this very same city.

Trying to ignore the nauseating smell, he directed more djed away from his nose to his eyes in an effort to further investigate the newcomer, and he found the man's aura flaring more brilliantly than most. Nuits were inherently magical creatures, and their auras corresponded to this magical nature appropriately. However, this was even larger than normal, and as he zoomed in to study more aspects of the aura, he found a sliver of similarity to Rayage's.

Alchemist.

Eridanus was beginning to see patterns, little seemingly non-coincidental flashes of memories from various parts of his life starting to form together in a jumbled but cohesive string.

The philosophical conversations with Rayage. The exchanges of destiny and ambition of Nira'lia.

Realizing that he had been staring at the nuit in a strange and glazed manner, he abruptly stopped himself, cutting the djed flow. Closing his eyes as he rubbed his temples, he delved deeper into his own thoughts and memories, trying to make a link.

...

"To understand, and to learn. I guess my curiosity usually gets the better of me, and when my passion drives me to master a particular unknown I always succumb to that motivation. Though, I wanted Magecraft because I wished to create marvels and legends. Perhaps to leave behind a legacy? No, that may be too material. That's it then; to create marvels and legends. I wanted proof that magic was not something used to destroy, that it could play a powerful part in building and progressing."

"Well, that's a very good reason to study Magecraft. And yes, I do agree that creating is much better and more useful than destroying... Your ideas about the purpose of magic are quite interesting... not just in magic, actually. I think nothing should exist only for the purpose of destroying. I hope you put your ideas to good use... society needs a vision like that."

"We needs creators. Builders. Science cannot progress without construction. Humanity cannot progress without expansion."

"I'm not even sure by what you mean when you say you want to create in order to move forward... I get the gist, but what exactly do you mean? Do you mean creating new fields of study? What exactly can magic... well, create, in order for humanity to progress?"

"I'm not too sure myself. For example, Reimancy can create devastating magical storms, but it can also help build caves, provide drinking sources, divert storms. Construction and Destruction are two sides of the same coin, I am pretty sure of it. Accordingly, some disciplines have better known destructive sides and less known constructive sides. Some people call me a crackpot when I say this, but I believe there is something that ties magic together, some kind of common string, a similarity that all magic disciplines are derived from. If I can just discover what that is, and truly understand both the destructive and constructive aspects of it, perhaps I can usher us all into a new era of peace and prosperity. Sounds mad, doesn't it?"

"It doesn't sound mad at all. What's mad is if you just put your ideas aside and do nothing about it."

...

"We needs creators. Builders. Science cannot progress without construction. Humanity cannot progress without expansion."

Begin Anew.

...

The vantha opened his eyes suddenly, the colourful visuals of the festival once again assailing his senses as he reoriented himself to his surroundings. The expressive eyes granted by his mortal seeming was in a sort of inspirational turmoil as the colours swirled and shifted, never staying in a single spectrum. The thoughts in his mind was slowly coalescing to a single, converging point, and this was translated to the colour in his eyes. Ever changing, ever shifting, the confusing and hypnotic colours swirled and merged as they began to slowly converge to the same, deceptively simple colour as that of the feather. As that of the Temple.

The thoughts converged.

"I see it," He muttered softly, turning around slowly, studying and taking in the figures of everyone holding the feather, those who were looking at him curiously, expecting an answer.

"Creation. Advancement. Progress," He continued in a disjointed tone, trying to express the explosive mixture that was his thoughts as quickly as possible, though possibly failing if he expected comprehension unless his audience possessed extreme inferential skills.

"Magic!" He declared, his gaze wild and alive, with fire, with passion, as he issued that single worded challenge to the group. "We are magic!"

[Alric Wilmot]

Alric held his feather close to his face, twirling it and examining the colors as he waited for his companions to answer. So far, it seemed they all just agreed that there was a meaning. So far, no one had offered a meaning up. Alric really was no exception to this. He hadn't brought anything forth either. Though not for lack of trying. His wand still smoked idly, waiting for him to continue his play. Unfortunately, it would be disappointed. Alric had nearly forgotten it completely, all his effort had gone into thinking. It couldn't be as simple as being citizens of Alvadas. Otherwise everyone would have one. It wasn't that they were marked by Ionu either. Only Alric had Ionu's mark. He did not know why, but he could feel it when others shared his god's blessing. It wasn't that they were a favored group. The man, Kuvarakh, he was called, was not a part of it. Alric screwed his eyes shut, frustrated that he could see no pattern. Yet, at the same time, he realized his folly. Ionu was not one to follow patterns. Why should she? No, she was doing as she pleased, as always. There might be no meaning at all. In fact- "I see it," said Eridanus Alric's eyes opened. "See what?" "Creation. Advancement. Progress," Eridanus paused, then continued with vigorous energy. "Magic! We are magic!" Alric raised an eyebrow, confusion on his face. "Eridanus, I think a better explanation is in order. I'm not entirely sure that I follow."

[Nira'lia]

While Nira'lia was glad that Alric agreed with her, Nira'lia eyed Anishna uncomfortably as she shifted between her feet. There was a slight hint of disbelief in the girl's voice, as if she doubted that this was possibly fate. Nira'lia knew better, she had seen the visions, she knew well enough that everything was pre-determined but simply unseen by most. The Konti stared at the ground, silent, not really knowing what else to say. It was natural for her race to accept these kinds of belief, but she knew well enough that other people were not used to such statements. When Eridanus spoke, realization finally hit Nira'lia. The words that he used instantly reminded her of vague memories, of conversations relating to magic and its potentials. Back then, she had not really understood him too well, though there was a lingering feeling of admiration, and the hope that he would work upon his ideals. Then she thought about the visions that had sent her here... of a group working together in an area that she was not fully knowledgeable. As for her, she was not there because she was skilled in magic. She was sent there to assist them, to support them with her own abilities. "Eridanus is right..." she said softly, barely louder than a whisper. Alric had not addressed the question to her, but she saw no harm in explaining what she knew. Up until this point, Nira'lia had hesitated to say anything substantial in the fright of saying something wrong. However, now that she pieced it together, she only had to say it in a way that made sense. "I saw an... an Order. Amongst other things, I saw mages working together to expand their field, seeking knowledge," her expression gradually changed to excitement. A bright smile spread and her eyes had a twinkle to them. "Do you understand me? I think this meeting is the beginning... the start of something splendid." oocHope it's fine that I pushed it forward.

[Anishna]

Anishna furrowed her brow thoughtfully, the colours of her eyes bleeding together as she went through a variety of emotions. She couldn't believe in fate, in predestined actions. She utterly refused to, because what then was her life bound to be like? Was she destined to be afraid of home forever, to not place trust in her fellow Vantha? This whole talk of it was almost fanatical, but she held her tongue this time, for now. She saw the discomfort of the pale woman. "We are all people of magic?" She said slowly. It felt like she was one step behind everybody, but for her argument she didn't know Eridanus as much as these others did, well, excluding the newcomer. She didn't know what to think of that. She had always associated magic as a rare practise and surprisingly few people in Avanthal used it excluding perhaps the Whitevine and the members of the Icewatch. Meeting so mamy magically inclined people kind of astounded and troubled her. What could they all do? Were they dangerous? Unknowing of their own danger? Magic should be a closely kept secret, but here she was one in a group of magicians. There was a disappointment in the pit of her stomach as well as a tingle of excitement. Her head also began to hurt, an echo of what had happened before when she strained herself. Her frown only increased as the conversation, the revelations, continued. This sounded better, having all mages in a group. She liked to think that they wouldn't be too dangerous when only among themselves. She would be a part of that, yes, and with the benefit of furthering her chosen field of Auristics, she wouldn't complain too much about having to share a work space with a bunch of people who practise violent, dark magics. "What kind of visions?" She ended up asking Nira'lia bluntly. She didn't know if it was a sensitive topic why no one else seemed concerned a woman was seeing visions 'of the future'. She didn't know what a Konti was, hadn't even really heard of them until that day, just a few chimes earlier. "Did you see us all in your vision?" OOCForgive me for having a doubting Thomas sort of thing going on. My PC is just kind of new to this whole Divination and multiple magicians thing.

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh opted to remain silent. Though his excitement steadily grew as the Konti proposed the very thought for which he had dared hope, he could sense the unease his presence generated. He felt it likely that the group would be resistant to any such notion had he put it forth himself, so he certainly did not want to undermine the Konti's efforts.

He could understand the humans being leery of him. Were not undead a staple of most peoples' nightmares? It would take time before they would have cause to think him different from the usual cold, distant, self-serving embodiment of cynical disinterest that was the generally accepted view of the Nuit. Had he himself not hated them? He wondered how he would explain his own decision to accept the transformation to Nuit to them. How they would respond. Had it all been Lady Akajia's plan? This was best held for another day.

It had been only ninety-some years since he made the change. A child, by most Nuit standards. But already he had felt the pull of isolationism from society, that sense of world-weary disconnection from the living. He had rejected it though, and embarked on a daily regimen of self-hypnosis to reinforce his desire to interact with the world, to appreciate beauty, humor, art and fellowship. He was as human as they were. But there was only his word for it. Would he accept such if he were them?

Now, more than ever, he was grateful that the gods had graced him with a natural ability to make friends. He would need it. First of all, he weighed the priority of knowing their names. No, he should not seek to learn them before they offered them. He had offered his and would await their pleasure. The vantha male, Eridanus, seemed lost in his reverie and would probably not object, since his name had already been spoken. The Konti seemed the friendliest and would probably not mind, but he had not yet heard hers. Definitely though, the two others were of a more reserved nature and he would not press them.

So he looked from face to face with mute enthusiasm, trying to will the conversation to continue in its present direction. He liked where it was going.

[Alric Wilmot]

The Konti spoke. And she spoke of visions. Alric rose an eyebrow at that. What did this woman mean by visions? God given visions? Or where they procured in some other way? Still, he let her speak. It was actually quite interesting. An order, of mages. It sounded perfect. Alric had wanted to be part of something like that. Something to expand his mind, ever since he was a child. Whether this woman could really see the future or not, he liked that idea. As Alric mused to himself, he noticed Anishna, if that was her name, ask a rather important question. Had she seen them in that vision of hers? It was important, no doubt. Although, Alric had a distinct fear that they weren't. Alric decided to act. Whether he was acting rationally or not was up for debate. Though, he felt that if he did not act, that he was betraying himself. He had always craved knowledge. And Arcane knowledge? Well, that was even more tempting. He made a decision then. Even if the Konti was mistaken, he would see to it that this 'Order' happened anyway. Regardless of visions. Alric cleared his throat. "I believe it is of little consequence if we were the subject matter. We are obviously all dedicated to some sort of magical or psuedo-magical discipline. Otherwise one of us would have spoken up. I believe that is reason enough to assume the Konti's vision to be accurate. Besides, even if it were not, I'd say it is a good idea. We mages, we aren't like other people... we have more drive. In fact, I'd be seriously surprised if no one thought that this was advantageous. I say we create this 'Order.' Either it is fate or it is not. But there is only one way to tell. And that, my friends is to try." After Alric had stopped speaking, he decided to guide the hand of fate just a bit. He wanted this opportunity. He doubted that it would ever come again. So, he reached out cords of djed into the minds of his fellows. He had never attempted to tether so many minds to his own at once. But it was surprisingly easy. The hard part, he supposed, was keeping himself anonymous. He was influencing mages, one of which, or all of which, could be hypnotists. He could not use gestures or incantations to strengthen his power, or else they would catch on. So, he relied on neither. It would weaken his skills, but in the end, all he needed to do was push. He sent them all slight changes in emotion, a faint thing, unlikely to be noticed by anyone lest they had skills to rival his own. It was a feeling of acceptance, or rightness. He kept it faint, but steady. Then he sent in a thought, something which, due to hypnotism's mechanisms would be rendered in their own voice. This proved rather difficult at first, but them he realized why. He was trying to influence them all at once. So, he stopped that tactic, and went to each person individually. He dropped in that single thought, and let it be. He hoped that the thought would propagate more like it, in a domino effect that would allow him to use his touch as little as possible. The thought? "He's right."

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh felt a tickle in his mind, the familiarity of it bringing a slight shock to his awareness. 'Good Gods! Was I about to try hypnotizing these good people?' That would be the LAST thing he would want to try right now, he had nowhere near the skill to go undetected. He hoped it was nothing more than some hiccup in his mind, trying to make him aware that he had not performed his self-hypnosis routine this morning. Yes, that was it.

It didn't matter anyway, the human had just, more or less, echoed the Konti's words: "I believe it is of little consequence if we were the subject matter. We are obviously all dedicated to some sort of magical or psuedo-magical discipline. Otherwise one of us would have spoken up. I believe that is reason enough to assume the Konti's vision to be accurate.

Besides, even if it were not, I'd say it is a good idea. We mages, we aren't like other people... we have more drive. In fact, I'd be seriously surprised if no one thought that this was advantageous. I say we create this 'Order.' Either it is fate or it is not. But there is only one way to tell. And that, my friends is to try."

Kuvarakh could not have stifled the grin on his face if the gods had commanded it. The words came from his lips of their own accord, his fists clenched in enthusiasm, "He's Right! He's absolutely right!"

His face paled slightly, Nuit embarrassment, "Forgive me. Once again, I presume, but if you are in need of an alchemist, with a modest knowledge of hypnosis and familiarity with this most colorful of cities, I would be honored to contribute whatever I may to this grand endeavor!"

[Anishna]

The feeling of rightness, of this predetermined belonging, felt wrong. It went against her doubt, and she railed at it inwardly, cursing her own need to be accepted for the hope that this wasn't all just lunacy. Women with scales and... by the gods, were those gills? That distracted Anishna, just a moment, and her mind just dimly registered that the newcomer had exclaimed his agreement in Alric's words. Anishna wanted to agree as well, or did she? She remained mute as her mind wrapped around itself, turned itself over, and dug through itself to realise where these notions to all of a sudden just agree with whatever was said originated. Was she really so confused, so easy to be lead astray, that she didn't know what she wanted or thought anymore? She was uncomfortable with this whole idea, but she couldn't deny the usefulness to keep tabs on all practicing magicians if they kept to one place. That man who jumped to agree with Alric, he practiced Hypnotism. That was a dangerous magic, wasn't it? She could agree if it meant people like him kept off the streets. "Yeah, he's right," she spoke up, forcefully. The tone she used could have been mistaken easily for excitement, but it was more desperate than that. She continued the mental beat down of those welcoming feelings of warmth that so longed to flourish, the banding of her eyes the only sign of her emotional confusion. "Don't you all see? This vision that she had," and here Anishna gestured at the Konti with a wave of her hand. Crazy women didn't deserve much more. "It sounds like a glorious future for us, for all people who have touched upon magic." Hopefully the Alvads who overheard wouldn't be too reminded of the magic storm that had tried to eat them all at the beginning of Spring. It would suck if they decided they didn't want magicians in their city, especially since she just agreed to being one of them, although her personal choice hadn't been mentioned yet. When she thought of it, she realised she hadn't even touched the practice since she had so carelessly nearly burned herself out that fateful day she met Eridanus and the fisherman. Her head had hurt for so long afterwards that she internally shied away from even thinking about it. Whatever it was that she had looked at, that big creature of indescribable colour and power, it scarred her. Now, she tempted it. She pushed and prodded, carressed and pulled, and blinked. Her vision distorted when she opened her eyes, blossoming colours taking over where flat shades had just been. The people all about were still all about, but they had auras of intense colour, namely purple, but some blue and green and yellow. Her group had these same shades, yet she couldn't see much difference in them to determine if they practised magic at all. Alric had a strange, fading flourish of red about him, but even as she looked it wisped away as though it didn't even exist. It hurt to use Auristics still, but that could have been for any reason, including her anticipation of that same pain again. She missed it, the colours. It made her think of home, and that lingering feeling that had originated somewhere else other than her true frame of mind, prodded at her nostalgia, only to be crushed again. She didn't trust these people, didn't even care for them. Warm feelings would only get her hurt when one decided she could be used as a practise dummy for their Reimancy or Hyptnotism or other mysterious magic. Like Alchemy, maybe. She was sure that Alchemy was dangerous. At least, it sounded like it. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion at the newcomer.

[Nira'lia]

Nira'lia pushed back the discomfort that she felt when Anishna continued to ask her questions about what she had seen. She was not used to it since she didn't normally speak about she saw -- unlike her mother, she was not a fortune-teller, and her divination abilities were not relied on. Other than that, she could only see the past at will. The visions she had seen about the mage guild had been vague and fluttering, arriving in dreams that haunted her until she finally decided to leave for Alvadas. Nira'lia felt relieved when Alric spoke before she did. It put off a burden on her shoulders, and she couldn't help but give a small smile. What he said made much sense... she didn't know why, but in that instant, all his words seemed to be the truth. She had already been leaning towards it, but soon enough, all she could think was that he was right. The newcomer agreed with Alric as well. Nira'lia shot him a curious glance, amused at his sudden enthusiasm. He boldly stated that he was a hypnotist, and that fact stirred up an inkling of fright in the Konti – ironically, for she was not aware that she had just been hypnotized by Alric. The Vantha woman also seemed to agree. Nira'lia couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic when she spoke about what Nira'lia saw, but the Konti returned her gesture with a sheepish smile. "S-so... you... all agree?" the Konti inquired, blinking. She wasn't a mage, and she wasn't actually part of this. All in all, she regarded herself as a simple witness, who conveniently had some precognitions about this meeting. Nira'lia had her eyes on Anishna. She saw the suspicious look she gave the newcomer. Curiously, Nira'lia looked at him as well, and observed him closer. There was something eerie about him, something she couldn't pinpoint. "I'm sorry, I don't think I've introduced myself to you," said Nira'lia to Kuvarakh. She did it as politely as she could, although she was still wary of him. At the same time, she didn't introduce the others, choosing not to speak for them. "I'm Nira'lia." She unconsciously shifted away from the man. There was truly something about him that frightened her in general. She forced herself to return her thoughts to the purpose at hand, and she glanced at Eridanus, wondering what he had to say now.